Pickeral: Communication Is Key For O-Line

CHAPEL HILL -- A great offensive line, North Carolina
assistant coach Chris Kapilovic says, is a unit of players who know what each
other is doing without even having to say it.

But three
games into this season, "we're still learning how to say it,'' he said.

So go the
growing (up) pains of a front that lost three starters to the NFL last season,
and is still trying to find a cohesive voice and consistent push. As the Tar
Heels' offense attempts to revive an attack that set dozens of records last
season, but has topped 400 yards only once this year and managed only a measly
62 yards in the second half at Georgia Tech last Saturday, they know the effort
begins up front.

"We're
improving, but I think we're improving too slowly,'' said senior tackle James
Hurst. "Three games is a fourth of a season, almost, and at this point, we're
1-2. I don't feel like we finished the last game, and that's not who we are as
an offense or an offensive line. We've got to try to pick things up."

That's
not such a simple feat, though, considering offensive linemen Jonathan Cooper,
Brennan Williams and Travis Bond all joined tailback Gio Bernard in the NFL
draft, leaving UNC to rebuild both its front and run game.

Head
coach Larry Fedora has expressed disappointment in the latter, which gained
only 101 yards against the Yellow Jackets and is averaging just 111.3 rushing
yards per game (last in the ACC) this season. In addition, the Tar Heels are
averaging only 374.3 yards per game (10th in the league) out of
their no-huddle offense and already have allowed six sacks - only five fewer
than 2012.

"This
last game, we got better there [with the rushing game]," Kapilovic said,
pointing out that UNC's 101 yards came on a fewer-than-normal 24 carries, "and
then we took a step backward in pass protection. And then the week before that,
we pass-blocked well and didn't handle the run game as well. And now we've got
to put it all together."

And
consistently.

Kapilovic
said he has been impressed, in spurts, by sophomore Landon Turner (who played
an "excellent" game against the Jackets) and redshirt freshmen Caleb Peterson
and Jon Heck, "but can they do it two, three, four games in a row?" he asked.
Hurst and junior center Russell Bodine are the veterans of the group, and
expected to lead by both example and voice.

But with
so many new bodies blocking beside them, they've had to make adjustments, as
well.

"Playing
next to a guy, you feel when he bumps you and you need to go off and block
somebody else, and there's so many different unspoken things -- and when you
put new guys in there, you can feel it and everything changes,'' Hurst said.
"So it's practicing next to each other, and when you haven't played together,
you have to talk about every single thing in order to be successful early. And
that's where we're at if we really want to be successful."

Kapilovic
graded the O-line as "average," thus far, with the potential to get better each
day that they, and the offense, become more comfortable and cohesive.

His position
group needs to improve, he said, but it's a team effort: "It's also the backs
breaking the tackles, it's the receivers making the block, and it's the
quarterback, who's in charge of handling pressure - when they bring pressure,
his job is to throw it out, and now run into bad looks. Everybody's got to work
together, but it all starts up front."

And
communication is key.

"There
have been times when it feels like we're speaking several different languages
[on the line],'' Hurst said. "But this week, it feels like we're speaking one ...
and that's a good sign."